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A N 

A P P E A L 

TO THE 

WORLD; 

O R A 

VINDIC ATION 

OF THE 

Town or Boston, 

FROM 

Many falfe and malicious Afperfions 

CONTAINED 

In certain Letters and Memorials, written by Governor 
Bernard, General Gage, Commodore Hood, the Com- 
mifiioners of the American Board of Cuftoms, and 
others, and by them refpe&ively tranfmitted to the 
Britifti Miniftry. , 

PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE TOWN. 



Boston, Printed by Edes and Gill: And London, 
Reprinted for J. Almon, oppofite Burlington-Houfe 3 
in Piccadilly. 1770. 



[Price One Shilling.] 






-fi> 






VY3 



AT a Meeting of the Town of Boston, 
legally ajfembled, on Wednefday Oclober the 
Ajh, and thence continued hy Adjournment 
to Wednefday Offober 18, 1769. 

TH E following Remarks, upon the 
Letters written by Governor Bernard, 
and others, were ordered to be publifhed ; 
and the Committee were directed refpecl- 
fully to tranfmit a printed Copy of the fame 
to the following Gentlemen, viz. The 
Honorable Col. Ifaac Barre y Efq; a Mem- 
ber of Parliament ; His Excellency Thomas 
Pownal, Efq; late Governor of this Province, 
and a Member of Parliament ; Benjamin 
Franklin, Efq; Doctor of Laws ; William 
Bollan, Efq; Agent for his Majefty's Coun- 
cil of this Province ; Dennys De Berdt, 
Efq; Agent for the Houfe of Reprefenta- 
tives, and Barlow Trecotbick, Efq; Alder- 
man of the City of London, and a Mem- 
ber of Parliament. 

Atteft. 
William Cooper, Town-Clerk. 



Jujl Publijbed 9 

(Being the Papers at length referred to In this 
Appeal) 

LETTERS to the Earl of Hillsborough from 
Governor Bernard, General Gage, Commo- 
dore Hood, the Commiflioners of the Cuftoms at Bof- 
ton, and the Council of M afTachufett's Bay ; contain- 
ing their whole Correfpondence with the Miniftry, from 
the beginning of January. 1768, to the end of July, 
1769. 

In two Parts, Price 5 s. 6 d. fewed. Either Part 
may be had feparate. 

Printed for J, Almon, oppofite Burlington-Houfe, in 
Piccadilly. 

Of whom may be had, 

A Collection of the moft Esteemed Tracts, 
printed in England anJ America, on the Subjects of 
Taxing the American Colonies, and Regulating their 
Trade. In four Volumes, half-bound and lettered, 
Price 1 1, 4 s. 



[ 3 ] 



An APPEAL, &c. 

T HE town of Boflon having by the ge- 
nerous care of William Boll an, 
Bfq; formerly a very worthy inhabitant in 
it, but now a reiident in London, received 
authentick copies of Letters, Memorials, &c. 
written by Governor Bernard, General Gage, 
Commodore Flood, the Commiffioners of 
the American board of Cuftoms and o- 
thers, and laid before the Parliament; which 
contain many bale insinuations and virulent 
charges of an high nature againft the town : 
the freeholders and inhabitants in a legal 
town meeting afTembled for the purpofe, 
have confidered the fame. As they have 
not yet been favoured with the particular 
vouchers, if indeed thefe gentlemen have 
produced any to the Miniftry before whom 
they laid their accufations, it cannot be ex- 
pected they mould be enabled to make fo 
full a vindication of the town as otherwife 
they might : they have however endeavoured 
to extract from thefe writings, fo far as the 
town is concerned in them, and to lay be- 
fore the public their true fpirit: from whence 
it will appear how reftlefs Governor Bernard 
and his aftociates have been in their malicious 
intrigues to traduce not this town and pro- 



B 



vmce, 



[ 4l 

vince, alone, but the whole Britifh American 
Continent. 

In his letter to the Earl of Shelburne, 
dated March 19th, 1768, he tells his Lord- 
mip, that " he fees fuch an oppofition to the 
Commiflioners and their officers, and fuch 
a defiance to the authority by which they 
are appointed, continually growing, that 
he can no longer excufe his informing his 
Lordfhip of the detail of facts, from whence 
the mod dangerous confequences are to be 

expe&ed." It is obferveable here, how 

artfully he connects an oppofition to the 
Commifiioners with a defiance of the au- 
thority by which they are appointed ; and 
this with an apparent defign to reprefent this 
town as difaffecled to his Majeity's Govern- 
ment in general, than which nothing can be 
more falfe and malicious. That the people 
mould entertain the higheft difguhV of a 
board, inftituted to fuperintend a revenue to 
be rais'd from them without their confent, 
which was and frill is exacted with the ut- 
moll rigor, is natural ; after they had fo 
loudly as well as juftly complained of the 
revenue itfelf, as depriving them of the 
very idea of liberty : but it cannot be faid 
with the lean: appearance of truth that they 
fet at defiance the King's authority, at the 
very time when they were actually yielding 
obedience to thofe revenue laws, under all the 
hardfhips of them, and were patiently 
waiting for the happy irTue of their juft 

complaints, 



[ 5 ] 

complaints, and their humble petitions to 
their Sovereign for the redreis of their 
grievances. — The Commiffioners had how- 
ever at that time furely no reafonable grounds 
to expect any injury to their perlbns or in- 
terruption in their office ; for they had been 
more than four months in the town without 
the leaft danger of this kind, although they 
had from their firfr. arrival difcovered fuch 
an arrogance and infolence of office, as led 
many perfons to apprehend* that they aimed 
at nothing lefs than provoking the people to 
fuch a degree cf intemperence as to make 
an appearance of it. But being difappointed 
in this, mere fhifts and pretentions are to be 
fought after ; and accordingly we find Mr. 
Bernard beginning his " detail" to his Lord- 
fhip, with telling him there had been " fre- 
quent reports of infurrections intended, in 
which it had been/aid, the houfes of one or 
more of the Commiffioners were to be pulled 
down." The Governor, it is to be obferved,. 
relies much upon /r/'or/.f in his letters even to 
Miniflers of ftate, while few if any among 
us ever heard of fuch reports : he does not 
fo much as attempt to make it appear to his 
Lordmip that thefe frequent reports were 
brought to him by perfons of credit, or that 
they were well grounded ; and it is very 
much to be queftioned, whether he received 
his intelligence from any other perfons, but 
the Commiffioners themfelves, their depen- 
dents and expectants, the number of whom 
B 2 are 



t 6 ] 

are encreafed to an enormous degree, more 
than fufficient to devour the whole revenue, 
and many of them are of the moft aban- 
doned characters. 

But to give a colouring to thefe ideas of 
an infui region, there mud he fomething 
more alledgcd than barely that there had 
been frequent reports of its being intended ; 
and therefore his Lordfhip is told of an e- 
vent which in fact took place as fome few 
remember, but the ftory is wrought up by 
the Governor with all the ftrokes of maf- 
terly invention to ferve the purpofe. ct A 
number of lads, " fays he, paraded the 
town with a drum and horn." And what 
poflible harm could there be in that? Why 
among other houfes " they parTed by the 
Council-chamber when he was fitting in 
Council :" and did they flop to infult the 
Governor and Council ? Such a circumftance 
would doubtlefs have embellifhed his Ex- 
cellency's narrative. Their paffing by how- 
ever carried the air of an infult, though in 
all likelihood the unlucky boys might not 
know that his Excellency was there. — But 
they had " alTembled before Mr. Paxton's 
houfe," and left it mould be forgot, his 
Lordfhip is reminded that Mr. P?xton is 
" a CommiJJioner." And did they do Mr. 
Paxton the Commiffioner any injury ? Yes 
truly " they huzza'd," and went off. — Then 
they " invefted Mr. Burch's houfe," and his 
Lordihip is alfo told, that Mr. Burch is 

" another 



• f 7 I 

" another Commiffioner," and " his lady and 
children were obliged to go out of the back 
door to avoid the danger that was threats 
ened ;" fo that they were not threatened 
with mifchief, but with danger only. It 
has been ufual for the Commiffioners to af- 
fect an apprehenfion of danger to them- 
felves and their families, to ferve the pur- 
pofes they had in view. There is indeed 
no accounting for the real fears of women 
and children. The ladies however can 
fometimes vie with their hufbands in in- 
trigue, and are thoroughly verfed in the art 
even of political appearance. Audit is faid 
that all are politicians in this country : whe- 
ther this lady, whom Gov. Bernard has 
politely ufhered into the view of the public, 
really thought herfelf in danger or not, it 
is incumbent on him to fhow that there 
were juft grounds for her apprehenlions, 
that Mr. Burch's houfe was in fact " in- 
veiled," and that " the moil dangerous 
confequences were to be expected. " The 
world may be afTured, there was not the 
leafc appearance of this kind ; and yet, thefe 
are Mr. Bernard's own declarations to his 
Majefty's Minifters, grounded upon vague 
and idle reports, beneath one of his rank 
and ftation to take any notice of, and ef- 
pecially with a defign to mifreprefent. He 
exprefles a furprize, and furely he mud 
counterfeit it, that this matter of " the 
parade with the drum and horn," was af- 
ter 



[ 3 ] 

ter all treated as the diverfion of a few boys, 
as it is flill thought to have been by all 
who can remember fo trifling an occurrence, 
except the Governor and his adherents — the 
diverfion of a few innocent, though perhaps 
vulgar boys, who neither did nor intended 
to do the leaft harm to them or any other 
perfons, nor were they able to effect it, if 
they had fuch a defign. But after this, 
fays Mr. Bernard, " it was reported, that 
the infurre&ion was postponed till the lHth 
of March" — The idea is flill kept up of a 
defigned infurrection, how elfe could it be 
pojiponed? and " two perfons, fays he, one 
of them Mr. Paxton, a Commijjioncr ', were 
mentioned as devoted to the refenfment of 
the mob." It is flrange that no perfons 
mould have heard of all this but the Go- 
vernor and his informers ; for he tells his 
Lordmip, that he " took all the pains he 
could to difcover the truth of this report" ; 
and " on the very day before, he fpoke 
with the moft knowing men he could pro- 
cure", who had heard nothing about the 
matter. At length, however, " late in the 
evening, he had certain advice that effigies 
were prepared, but it was too late to do 
any thing, and — his information was of 
that nature, he could not make ufe of it in 
public" To induce his Lordmip however 
to believe that the reports oi the injur reffi ion, 
which was poftponed to the 1 8th of March, 
with every circumdance as jufl now related, 

were 



[ 9 J 

were well grounded, he tells him, as if it 
was defigned to be the prelude to the 
whole, that " early in the morning the 
Sheriffinforrned him that the effigies of Mr. 
Paxton and Mr. Williams were in truth 
hanging upon liberty-tree" ! — There was in 
the time of it, a flrong fufpicicn in the 
minds of many, that thefe effigies were 
hung up by fome particular perfons on that 
day (which was to be obferveql as a day of 
Feftivity), with a deiign to give a colouring 
to juft fuch a reprefentation as Gov. Bernard 
now makes. — There are perfons here capa- 
ble of playing fuch a game ; and there are 
fome circumftances which make it appear 
that fuch a fufpicion was not groundlefs. 
Particularly it is difficult to account for Go- 
vernor Bernard's neglecting to give orders 
to prevent their being hung up after he cer- 
tainly knew it was intended ; and that he 
ihould pretend it was too late the evening 
before ; but efpecially, his not chuling to 
make ufe of his information, or it may ra- 
ther be fuppofed his informants name in 
public, unlefs it was through fear of difco- 
vering the plot, is dark and unaccountable — 
If there was a defign of this nature, it muft 
have been truly mortifying to thole who 
w r ere in the fecret, that the defien was fo 
foon frufirated : for before the Governor 
could meet his council, which he had pru- 
dently " the day before fummoned to meet," 
and while he was " fending round to get 

them 



[ 10 ] 

them together as foon as poflible it might 
be ; amidir. all thefe careful preparations, the 
effigies, fays the Governor, " were taken 
down by fome of the neighbours without op- 
position" ! Their being thus, perhaps unex- 
pectedly, taken down, is fufficient to evince 
the good difpofition of the inhabitants in 
general : that 'They were not in the plan of 
an infurrection, whoever, elfe might be, and that 
the Governor therefore might with fafety, if 
he had been fo inclined, make ufe of his infor- 
mation in public. — It might poffibly indeed 
have totally overthrown his defign in writ- 
ing this very letter to his Lordfliip. 

But the befl improvement is to be made 
of every appearance : accordingly the Go- 
vernor haiiens to his Council, who were 
then met, agreeable to his appointment the 
day before, and there he tells his Lordfliip, 
he " fet forth in fcrong terms the atrociouf- 
nefs of this infult ; the danger of its being 
followed by aclual violence, and the necef- 
fity there was of providing for the peace of the 
town." However atrocious the infult might 
be, where could be the danger of its being 
followed by aclual violence, when fome of 
the inhabitants themfelves had taken down 
the effigies, with at leafr. the tacit confent of 
the whole community; for it was done with- 
out the oppoiition expected, perhaps hoped for: 
and what neceffity of providing for the peace 
of the town, when the people already dis- 
covered fo peaceable a difpofition. It would 

doubt- 



t II ] 

doubilefs have pleated the Governor well, 
if his Council had advifed to fome fevere 
meafures ; fuch as might have afforded a 
firmer foundation for him to have reprefen- 
ted the town as upon the eve of an infur- 
rection, than groundlefs reports or infor- 
mations, from his own pimps, which it 
was not prudent for him to make ufe of in 
public. But " all he could fay" to that pur- 
pofe though he ftrove hard for it, " made 
no impreffion on the Council ;" They, fays' 
he, " perfevered in treating the affair as of 
no confequence," as well they might -, for 
it is queftionable after all, whether there was 
the lead appreheniion then of any Com- 
motion even in the mind of the Governor 
himfelf, whatever were his pretentions. The 
Commiffioners however took this opportu- 
nity " of fetting forth the danger they ap- 
prehended ;" and the Governor, very rea- 
dily no doubt, took the occafion to acquaint 
the King's Minifler, that he had received 
a letter from the Commiffioners, " dejiring 
the pretention of the Government". 

Mr. Bernard proceeds in his narrative, 
and entertains his Lordlhip with a very 
minute account of the celebration of the 
anniverfary of the repeal of the Stamp- Adl ; 
and " the terrible night it produced" — to 
Mr. Burch, one of the Commiffioners, and his 
lady and children who had moved to his 
houfe for fafety ; — " to the lieutenant Go- 
vernor and the Sheriff of the County who 

C were 



t «] 

were alfo with him ;" and in fine to all 
" thofe who thought themfelves objects of 
the popular fury" It may be here obferved 
as in general true, that no man has reafon 
to fear the popular fury, but he who is 
confcious to himfelf of having; done that 
which has expos'd him to their juftrefent- 
ment — The Governor himfelf owns, that 
" the felectmen of the town" and " fome 
others", and even the gentlemen who dined 
at two taverns near the town-houfe, upon 
the occafion cf the day, cc took great pains 
that the feftivity mould not produce a 
riot." There is no reafon to fuppofe this 
was mentioned for the fake of giving a 
credit to any of thofe gentlemen, but rather 
to insinuate that the people were fo out- 
rageoufly difpofed as that they could not be 
restrained even by their own Leaders-, for 
mofl of thofe whom the Governor has 
honoured with that character were prefcnt. 
The truth is, none of them were appre- 
hensive that their feitivity would produce a 
riot ; but they were careful to prevent the 
lighting a Bonfire, becaufe the Governor 
had constantly reprefented that as " the u- 
fual fignal for a mob/' and the joys of the 
evening among the lower fort, which how- 
ever innocent are fotnetimes noify, would of 
ccurfe be reprefented as riotous. And thus 
he did in fact reprefent it to his Lordihip; 
for he tells him, thai " many hundreds of 
people of all kinds, fexes, and ages, para- 
ded 



f n 7 

ded the (beets with yells and outcries" ■ 

That they " inverted Mr. Williams's 

houie" —That " at two different times 

about midnight they made outcries about 
Mr. Paxton's houfe." And tho' after all, 
he owns it was " out of mere wantonnefs", 
yet he fays the whole made it a terrible 
night." This is painting indeed, much be- 
yond the life : but Mr. Bernard has the art 
in perfection. He could not however per- 
fwade even General Gage, to give it fuch a 
colouring ; for the General in his letter to 
Lord HilUborough, dated Bcilon the 35ft 
of October, 1768, tells his Lordfhip quite 
otherwife j and that " according to the beft 
information he had been able to procure, 
the difturbance in March (which was this 
very inftance) far from being " terrible as 
the Governor reprefents it, was in truth 
" trifling." This being the account given 
by one of the principal fervants of the 
Crown in America, and who has difcovered 
himfelf far from being partial in favour of 
the town, it is needlefs to add any thing 
further on this head — Trifling as indeed this 
" disturbance" was, fuch improvements 
were made of it by Gov. Bernard and o- 
thers, that it occaiioned the ordering two 
regiments from Halifax to this town, for a 
purpofe for which the military power was 
certainly never defigned ; a very dangerous 
purpofe, and abhorrent to the Britiih con- 
ititution and the fpirit of a free govern-. 
C 2 ment, 



[ i4 J 

mcnt, namely to fuppoit the civil autho- 
rity — A meafure which has cauled continual 
terror to his Majesty's peaceable fubjedts 
here, ana has been productive of more dis- 
turbance and confufion than has been known 
in the memory of any now living, or than 
is recorded by any hiilorian, even the mofr. 
partial againft this country. 

We (hall now take notice of Governor 
Bernard's letter to the Earl of Hillfborough, 
dated Boiton, June 1 1, 1768, wherein he 
gives his Lordlhip an account *' of a great 
riot that happened in this town the pre- 
ceding evening." And it muft be confefled 
there was a riot on that evening, which is 
by no means to be juftified. It was how- 
ever far from being fo great an one as the 
Governor reprefents it to be. — The collec- 
tor and comptroller of the cuftorns indeed 
reprefent it as a (t numerous mob," but 
they being particularly interefted, their 

fears might deceive them. It was not a 

numerous mob ; nor was it of long con- 
tinuance, neither was there much mifchief 
done. It was occaiioned by the unprece- 
dented and unlawful manner of feizing a 
veiTel by the collector and comptroller : and 
considering their illegal proceedings in ma- 
king the feizure, attended with the moil 
irritating circumitances which occaiioned 
this mob— the intolerably haughty beha- 
viour which the Commiffioners who or- 
dered this feizure, had conflantly before 

diicovered 



r «5 1 

difcovered towards the people- — the frequent 
threats which had been given out, that the 
town lhould be put under a military Go- 
vernment, and the armed force actually em- 
ployed as a prelude to it, it cannot be won- 
dered at, that in a populous town, fuch 
high provocations, and the fudden exertion 
of lawlefs power, fliould excite the refent- 
ment of fome perfons beyond the bounds 
of reafon, and carry them into excels. — 
We cannot ftate the circum fiances of this 
affair with greater impartiality, than by 
reciting the fentiments of his Majefiy's 
Council after two days enquiry and confi- 
deration, in their own expreiiions, viz. 

" HIS Excellency having laid before the 
Board a reprefentation of fome tranfadions 
relating to, and in confequence of the dis- 
orders in the town of Boflon on the evening 
of the ioth of June laft, the Board think it 
neceffary in jufiice to the town and province, 
and in vindication of themfelves, to make 
fome observations thereon, and to give a 
fuller reprefentation than is contained in the 
paper laid before the Board. 

" With regard to the faid diforders, it is 
to be obferved that they were occafioned by 
the making a feizure (in a manner unpre- 
cedented) in the town of Bofton on the 
faid ioth of June, a little before funfet, 
when a veifel was feized by feveral of the 
officers of the cuftoms ; and immediately 
after, on a fignal given by one of faid 

officers, 



[ 16 ] 

officers, in confequence of a preconcerted 
plan, feveral armed boats from the Romney 
man of war took poffeffion of her, cut her 
fafts, and carried her from the wharf where 
flie lay, into the harbour, along lide the 
Romney ; which occaiioned a number of 
people to be collected, fome of whom, from 
the violence and unprecedentednefs of the 
procedure with regard to the taking away 
of the laid veffel, and the reflection thereby 
implied upon the inhabitants of the town 
as difpofed to refcue any feizure that might 
be made, took occalion to infult and abufe 
the faid officers, and afterwards to break 
fome of the windows of their dwelling- 
houfes, and to commit other diforders. 
Nov/, though the Board have the utmoft 
abhorrence of all fuch diforderly proceed- 
ings, and would by no means attempt to 
juflify them, they are obliged to mention 
the occasion of them, in order to mew, that 
however culpable the faid diforderly per- 
fons were, the officers who feized, or thofe 
by whole orders fuch unufual and violent 
meafures as were purfued in feizing and tak- 
ing away the faid vefTel, were not faultlefs : it 
being highly probable that no fuch difor- 
ders would have been committed, if the 
vefTel had not been with an armed force, 
and with many circumflances of infult and 
threats, carried away from the wharf." 

The Council further fay, (t with regard 
to what happened on the 10th of June, it 

feems 



[ *7 ! 

feems to have fprung wholly from the per- 
fons who complain of it, by the plan laid 
and the orders given for making the feizure 
aforefaid, and carrying it away by an armed 
force. Which circumftances, together with 
the time of day of feizing the verTel, makes 
it feem probable, that an uproar was hoped 
for and intended to be occaiioned by the 
manner of proceeding in making the 
feizure." 

From this impartial fiate of the matter, 
it muft evidently appear to every candid 
mind, that the opposition was made, not 
at all to the feizing of the veflel by the 
officers of the cufcoms, but wholly to the 
manner in which it was fecured ; and that 
if it had been done in the ufual manner, as 
the Council afterwards fay, * c it would 
have remained fecure in the hands of the 
officers" — This correfponds with the Com- 
miffioners own account; for they fay in 
their letter to Governor Bernard, June 12, 
that they received a verbal melfage from the 
people to the following purpofe, " that if 
the Hoop feized was bro't back to Mr. Han- 
cock's wharf, upon fecurity given to an- 
fwer the profecution, the town might be 
kept quiet" But this pacific propofal, tho' 
brought to them as they acknowledge " by 
a perfon of credit," they exprefly declare 
" appeared to them as a menace" and it 
was in fact one of their very reafons for 
requeuing the Governor to give directions 

that 



[ 18 ] 
that they might be received into the caftle 
for protection — So totally regardlefs were 
they of the peace of the town, and fo 
exceffively fond of being thought by others 
as important as they fancied themielves to 
be, that when this reafonable and timely 
propofal was brought to them even by a 
perifon of credit in their own eiteem, they 
haughtily replied, that " they gave no an- 
fwers to 'verbal meffages," which plainly 
indicated either a wantonnefs of power in 
them beyond all bounds, or the hopes if not 
the intentions of a further uproar. — 

Governor Bernard tells his Lordmip, that 
this riot " had very bad confcquences," 
which is undoubtedly true : the exaggerated 
accounts which he and the Commiffioners 
gave of it to the Miniilry, and their taking 
occaiion to reprefent the town itfelf as in a 
ftate of difobedience to all law and autho- 
rity, and indeed the whole continent as 
ripe for a revolt, were attended with the 
worfl of confequences to the town. The 
Commiffioners fay in plain terms, that " there 
had been a long and extenfive plan of refinance 
to the authority of Great-Britain," and 
that " the feizure referred to " had haffcened 
the people of Boilon to the Commiilion of 
actual violence fooner than was intended." 
Such inflammatory reprefentations asthefehad 
the effects which they had long wifhed-for; 
and induced the Miniftry to order two other 
regiments to this town ; the confequence 

of 



1 19] 

of which, if they or any of them are con- 
tinued, it is to be feared, far from reconcil- 
ing the people to the prefent meafures of 
adminiftration, will only increafe their dif- 
content, and even alienate their affections. 

The Governor in the poftfcript to his 
letter, June 13, mentions his haying 
intelligence from the Commimoners ot 
fome particulars, from whence they concluded* 
that they were immediately expofed to 
further violences, and defired protection at 
the caftle. — this intelligence is contained 
in their letter of June 1 2, jud now mentioned, 
wherein they take upon themielves to 
charge the Government with having ufed 
no meafures for fecuring the peace of the 
town, alledging in general terms that 
" there was the ftrongeft reafon to expect 
further violences". And they further fay, 
that " his Excellency himfelf had acquaint- 
ed them that Bqfion was no pi ice of fafetyfor 
them'. Here we fee that the intelligence 
which the Governor reprefents to his Lo.d- 
fhip as having been received by him from 
the Commimoners, he firft communicated 
to them -, and thereupon they grounded their 
pretended fears in their letter to htm, and 
delire the protection of Vaz Government. 
This is all of a piece, and may ferve to 
explain the frequent rumours of an infurrecT:- 
ion, mentioned in a former letter, and 
from what quarter thefe frequent rumours 
came. It fhows the combination, and the 

D fettled 



[20] 

fettled defign, of the Governor and the 
Commiffioners, to blacken the character of 
the town ; and how dextroufly they can 
play into each others hands — The Governor 
the next day, June 13, wrote to the Com- 
miffioners, and acquainted them, that 
e< having communicated their letter of the 
1 2th to the Council, they deiired him to 
inform them, that during the fitting of the 
Council on faturday morning, there was no 
reafon at all given to expect further violences, 
and that there was no appreheniion either 
in the Governor or the Council of an im- 
mediate danger." It is incumbent on the 
Governor, or his friend, if he has any, to 
reconcile this with what he had before told 
the Commiffioners, " that Bofton was no 
place of iafety for them". It feems Gov. 
Bernard was perpetually teizing the Council 
with the Commiffioners vague reports of 
an insurrection, and of the danger they 
were in ; and indeed it appears to be the 
main point in view to perfwade the Council 
if poffible into a belief of it, or if not, to 
form a complaint to the Miniftry, that they 
were negligent of their duty in not adviiing 
to proper meafures for the protection of 
the Commiffioners; and from thence to 
enforce a neceffity of military force to re- 
ftore and fupport Government in Bofton—- 
Why did he not lay before the Council the 
particulars, wbich he tells his Lordfhip he 
had received from the Commiffioners, from 

whence 



[ 21 ] 

whence they concluded that they were ex*- 
pofed to further violences ? This we hear 
nothing of; perhaps the intelligence, like 
that which he mentions in a former letter, 
" was of fuch a nature that he could not 
make ufe of it in publick." He indeed 
tells the Commiffioners, that " he had in- 
formed the Council of their prefent ap- 
prehenfions of further violences, and that 
they were then taking the fame into con- 
fideration." — But he mould have fairly 
reprefented this matter to the Commiffioners, 
and told them that the Council had already 
taken the fame into confideration, and come 
to a conclufion, as in fact they had ; for 
bv their own minutes we find, that t: the 
matter being fully debated, it appeared to 
the Board, that there was no immediate 
danger of frefh difturbances." They at 
the fame time advifed that the matter mould 
be laid before the General Court then fit- 
ting, and poftponed the confideration of it 
by them, as of Council to the Governor, till 
the effect of fuch a propofal mould be 
known. All this the Governor knew; how 
then could he confidently fay that they were 
then taking it into confideration. He tells 
Lord HilKborough, that " he was againfr. 
the bufinefs being laid before the General 
Court, but was obliged to give it up"; and 
that " he had many objections to the mea- 
fure." He knew very well that the drawing 
this matter into open day-light, would 
D 2 effectually 



[ 22 ] 

effectually defeat his defign ; and that the 
intention of bringing the Council, if poffi- 
ble, to join with the Governor in requiring 
the military force, or accufing them of 
negligence in cafe they did not, would 
thereby be entirely fruftrated. — The remov- 
ing the bufinefs to the General Court, he 
tells his Lordlhip, was however, upon one 
cenfideratiw, not cc entirely to his diflatif- 
faclion ;" for he fays, it was then in a great 
meafure " taken out of his hands" 5 and he 
concludes, that " as he cannot conduct this 
bufinefs as it ought to be," or rather as he 
cho/e it mould be, " it may be heft for him 
to have but little hand in it." — It may not 
be amifs here to recite the declaration of 
his Majdly's Council at a full Board on the 
29th of July, fix weeks after the Com- 
miffioners voluntary exile to the caftle, in 
confequence of thefe pretended a$>pr el^enfions 
of further violences. The Council fay, 
" the Commiffioners were not obliged to 
quit the town ; there never had been any 
infult offered to them ; their quitting the 
town was a voluntary act of their own ; we 
do not apprehend there was any Sufficient 
ground for their quitting it; and, when 
they had quitted it, and were at the caftle, 
there was no occalion for men of war to 
protect them." Such an authority, will, 
no doubt, be deemed fufficient to vindicate 
the town from this afperfion ; efpecially, 
as the Council had then had time cooly to 

recol- 



[ 23 1 

recoiled;- the matter : as they had born their 
full teflimony againft the diforders, and 
taken every dep which belonged to their 
department, to bring the offenders to con- 
dign puniihment : but more efpecially, as 
that very Board had always before fupported 
the Governor's meafures to the utmod ex- 
tent that their confciences would allow, and 
many times againd the general fentiments 
of the people, for which they had gained 
the Governor's applaufe, and his particular 
recommendations to his Majedy's minider ; 
and he himfelf could at this time have no 
other exception to any part of their condudt, 
but their oppohtion to his favorite plan, to 
introduce a military Government into the 
town, without the lead: colour of neceflity, 
and thereby to break thro' the mounds, and 
tear up the very foundation of the civil 
conditution. 

The Governor in his letter to Lord Hills- 
borough of the 14th of June, being re- 
folved to give his Lordfhip an exact detail 
of every occurrence " from whence the 
mod dangerous confequences are to be 
expected," takes occafion to mention " a 
paper duck up on Liberty Tree," this paper, 
he had laid in his letter of the 13th, con- 
tained " an invitation of the fons of li- 
berty to meet at fix o'clock to clear the land 
of the vermin which were come to devour 
them." A very innocent, if not a laudable 
propofal, for which the country Should think 

itfelf 



[ 24 ] 
itfelf obliged to them, to be fure, if they 
could have effected their defign. But io this 
letter it is called " a violent and virulent 
invitation to rife that night to clear the coun- 
try of the Commiffioners and their officers, 
to avenge themfelves of the Cuftom houfe 
officers, and put one of them to death ?■' 
And, ftill more alarming, " there were alfo 
fome indecent threats againft the Gover- 
nor !" Could the Governor think, that by 
the vermin that were come to devour the 
land> they meant his Excellency and the 
Commiffioners? But perhaps the mind of 
the Sheriff who brought this information to 
the Governor, was lomewhat agitated with 
the fears of an infurrection ; and moreover, 
we may prefume, that he had not feen the 
paper himfelf, but took it from report^ in 
conformity to the example of the Governor, 
who believed, or pretended to believe, every 
word of it, till he had the mortifying fight 
of the true contents of this very important 
paper ; of which the following, as he him- 
felf at length tells his Lordihip, is " an ex- 
act copy," viz. Bolton, June 53, 1768. The 
fons of liberty requeit all thofe, who, in 
this time of oppreffion and diffraction, wifh 
well to, and would promote the peace, good 
order and fecurity of the Town and Pro- 
vince, to affemble at Liberty Hall, under 
Liberty Tree, on Tuefday, the i^hinftant, 

at ten o'clock precifely. It might have 

been fuppofed that fo harmleis a thing would 

have 



[ *5 J 

have given offence to none. In the firfl 
place, the matters alledged in it were con- 
fefledly true : that this was a time of op- 
premon, the people all felt : that it was a 
time of detraction, the Governor and the 
Commiffioners loudly proclaimed : a defign 
then, at fuch a time, to promote the peace, 
good order, and fecurity of the town, was 
at leaft unexceptionable. But the Governor 
complains, that " it was not confidered as 
an implication of danger :" ffrange would 
it have been indeed, if fo falutary a propo- 
fal as the promoting the peace, good order, 
and fecurity of the town, had been thus con- 
fidered. " Neither, fays he, was the im- 
propriety of the fons of liberty appointing a 
meeting to fecure the peace of the Town, 
when the Governor and Council were luting" 
upon that bufinefs, and feemly to little pur* 
pofe, taken much notice of." But furely, if 
the Governor and Council could be fuppofed 
to befitting upon fuch bufinefs, 21 fuch a time y 
and feemingly to little purpofe, there could be 
no great impropriety in other peoples under- 
taking it. But without adopting by any 
means the meafure, is not here a finking 
inftance of the difpoiition of Governor Ber- 
nard, and fome others, to receive with the 
greateft avidity the moft aggravated accounts 
of every trifling occurrence that has happen- 
ed, and without any enquiry, to paint them 
to the Miniftry in the deepeff. colours ! Be- 
hold a meeting, the profeffed dengn of 

which 



1 26 ] 

which was to promote the peace, good or- 
der, and fecurityof the Town, and that in 
open day-light, reprefented to the King's 
Minifter as a meeting defigned to be held at 
fix o'clock, near fun-iet, in one letter; and 
in another the next day, " a moil violent 
and virulent invitation to rife that night ! and 

clear the country of the Commiffioners, 

threaten the Governor, and commit mur- 
der !" In confequence of which he tells the 
Council, there is " no time to enquire into 
the particulars of the former riot." ^ They 
are to be hurried to meafures to provide for 
the peace of the Town 5" and to prevent 
" new difturbances premeditated" and " im- 
mediately threatened ;" and his Lordfhip is 
to be forthwith informed of it. — Certainly 
every candid perfon will from hence be in- 
clined to believe all that Governor Bernard 
relates to the prejudice of this Town, or 
any particular perfons, with great difcre- 

tion. 

His letter of the 16th of June, for heieem- 
ed to be almoil: everyday employed in writing 
his " detail" of common reports, gives the earl 
of Hillfborough an account of" the meeung 
at Liberty Tree, in purfuance of the printed 
notice." And, after entertaining his Lordfhip 
with a particular, tho' awkard and incon- 
fiftent defcription of the Tree, the vail 
heighth of the nag-ftarT, and the defign of 
hoifling the flag, namely, " for a tignz]," 
which to be lure muft be a difcovery quite 

new 



[2?1 

new to his Lordfhip, he proceeds to fay j 
that, " at lean: 4000 men arTembled," that 
" the principal gentlemen attended to en- 
gage the lower people to concur in meafures 
for peace and quiet," which was the pro- 
ferTed end of their meeting — that " one of 
the felectmen was chofen moderator or chair- 
man" — that " they adjourn'd to the Town 
Hall" for the accommodation of fo large a 
number. And there it being " objected 
that they were not a legal meeting" they 
ft adjourned to the afternoon," he mould 
have faid, broke up j and the felectmen in- 
ftead of " legalizing the affembly," as it is 
oddly exprelfed, called a Town-meeting, 
agreeable to the directions of the law, to 
meet in the afternoon. All this was cer- 
tainly an innocent proceeding, and the Go- 
vernor himfelf, it is prefumed, did not 
think other wife, for it happens for once, 
that he makes no particular remarks upon 
it ; and if it mould be faid of them, that 
they met Jeemijigly to little purpofe, it might be 
faid truly enough j but it is to be remem- 
bered, that another allembly, with their 
chairman at their head, if the Governor's lu- 
dicrous account of the meeting of that ve- 
ry refpectable body could be credited, 
might in thatrefpecl: keep them in counte- 
nance. But innocent as it was, the Go- 
vernor did not chufe it mould be thought 
that he viewed it in that light, and there- 
fore told the Council, and his Lordfhip af- 
E terwards, 



[ 23 ] 

terwards, that " had it been the firft bufi- 
nefs of the kind, he fhould have afked their 
advice, whether he fhould not fend to the 
General for troops :" and to fhow his own 
exceffive fondnefs for fo arbitrary and violent 
a meafure, he adds, that " he was ready to 
do it, if any one gentleman would propofe 
it!" 

The Governor then proceeds to give a de- 
tail of the meeting of the Town in the af- 
ternoon ; in which he tells his Lordmip, 
that " many wild and violent propofals were 
made." It ought here to be obferved, that 
Governor Bernard conflantly reprefents bo- 
dies of men, even the mod refpeclable, by 
propofals made by individuals, which have 
been mifreprefented by pimps and parafites, 
and perhaps aggravated by himfelf, inftead 
of allowing them to ftand or fall by their 
own conclufions — Can any thing be more 
bale, more contrary to equity than this ? — 
What fhould we think of the moft refpec- 
table corporations at home — what even of 
both Houfesof Parliament, if they were to 
be judged of by every motion that has 
been made, or every expreilion that has 
dropped from individuals in the warmth of 
debates. If it had been true that fuch pro- 
pofals were made, nay, if meafures that 
could not have been altogether juftined, had 
been even adopted by the Town, at a Time 
when every art had been practifed to irritate 
the people, and inflame their minds, the can- 
did 



[203 

did part of mankind would have been ready to 
overlook it.— The Governor has often been 
obferved to difcover an averlion to free af- 
femblies : no wonder then that he mould be 
£o particularly difgufted at a legal meeting of 
the town of Bofton, where a noble freedom 
of fpeech is ever expedited and maintained: 
an affembly, of which it may be juftly faid, 
to borrow the language of the ancient Ro- 
man, with a little variation, Sefitire qnce 
volunt et qua? fenticat di cere licet, they think 
as they pleafe, and fpeak as they think. 
Such an affembly has ever been the dread — ■ 

often the fcourge of tyrants But thefe 

" wild and violent propofals, '* which no one 
can recoiled!: but the Governor, and perhaps 
his informers, it feems were " warded off" 
as the Governor is pleafed to exprefs it ; 
from whence it, may be fuppofed, that pru- 
dence directed at this meeting, " origina- 
ted and compofed as (he fays) it was" 

By thefe expreflions it is conceived, he 
would intimate to his Lordfhip that it was 
both illegal and tumultuous; and if that 
was his real intention, the infinuation was 
both falfe and injurious. — The meeting was 
" originated" as the law directs, and no- 
thing was there concluded upon, according 
to the Governor's own account, but the ap- 
pointment of a committee, which he him- 
felf fays " in general was very refpectable," 
to wait on him •* with a petition j" the re- 
ceiving his anfwer, as he is pleafed to fay, 
E 2 with 



[ 3° ] 
with "univerfal approbation !" Writinga let- 
ter to a friend, and voting fuch inftructions as 
they thought proper to their reprefentatives. 
After which he tells his Lordfhip they 
" broke up quietly" and " the meeting 
ended." But notwithstanding this quiet, and 
as may be concluded by the Governor's ac- 
count of it, ccaiizijig Town meeting, which 
conlifted of fo large a number, and among 
whom hehimfelf was fo e popular," that even 
" the moderator declared that he really be- 
lieved he was a well-wimer to the Province." 
(Thus faith Governor Bernard, but no one 
remembers or believes it) yet all this will 
not avail to foften his mind, or alter his in- 
tentions. And although he tells his Lord- 
fhip, " the Romney and a floop of i6 guns 
juft come in will compleat the command of 
all the approaches to the Caftle, and other 
fhips of war are expecled, fo that the fecu- 
rity of the Commiffioners is effectually pro- 
vided for;" yet the favourite point will not 
be carried, till the long-wifhed for troops 
arrive, to enforce his arbitrary defigns, and 
fupprefs the fpirit of liberty. And now is 
the Time, if ever, to prefs the matter : 
every hand therefore mull: be let to work, 
and nothing will ferve the caufe like conti- 
nually holding up the idea of an insurrec- 
tion. Accordingly, we find one of the aux- 
iliaries, whofe letter, tho' anonimous, has 
credit enough to appear in the lift laid be- 
fore Parliament, fays, " It is my opinion, 

that 



f 3i ] 

that the promoters of the prefent evils are 
ready to unmafk, and openly to difcover 
their long and latent defign to Rebel" — 
and " involve this country in blood and 
horror !" Another anonimous writer, who 
is faid to be " well acquainted with the 
ftate of the town of Bofton," fays, that 
" he obferves a fournefs in the minds of the 
people in general" and adds, " he that runs 
may read, that without fpeedy interpojition, 

a great form will arife." The Collector 

and Comptroller of the Cuftoms mention 
with deep concern, as they affect to exprefs 
themfelves, " that a general fpirit ^Insur- 
rection prevails, not only in the Town, 

but throughout the whole Provinces" — 

The Commiffioners themfelves, in their let- 
ter to General Gage, tell him, " that it is 
utterly impollible to carry on the bufinefs of 
the revenue in the town of Bolton, from 
the outrageous behaviour of the people :" 
they acquaint the General " of the alarm- 
ing ftate of things in the Town, and defire 
him to give them protection " And though 
Governor Bernard, when not fo much on 
his guard, or perhaps under fome little 
compunction of mind, in his letter to the 
Commiflioners, June 13, gently chides 
them for their ill-grounded fears, and tells 
them, " he is very forry that they think 
themfelves fo much in danger in Boiton 
(which he had before faid was no place of 
iafety for them) as to think it uniafe for 

them 



[ 32 J 

them to refide there ,» notwithstanding all 
this, yet in the letter we are now consider- 
ing, which was written nearly at the lame 
time, he positively allures his Lordfhip, that, 
if there is not a Revolt, the leaders muSt 
falfify their words and change their purpo- 
ses. Perhaps he would have been more 
conMent if he had imagined thefe letters 
would ever have feen the light. He con- 
cludes his letter with mentioning a few 
more «« papers Stuck upon the Town- 

.Houle. No evidence however appears 

to have accompanied all thefe heavy charges 
upon a whole community : but Governor 
Bernard and others feem to have conduced 
their profcriptions as if they could have even 
forefeen, that the bold aSTertions of perfons 
apparently inimical to a country, anonimous 
ietters, Street converfation picked up by 
pimps and Spies, and papers ftuck by no one 
knows whom on a public building, would 
be of fo much weight as to influence the 
meafures of administration ! Can any per- 
Jon believe this is a juft reprefentation, when 
Governor Bernard with all his industry and 
aid has not been able to furnish proof, that 
any body or combination of men, or even 
a fingle perfon, had incurred a legal penal- 
ty, it we except the disturbances that hap- 
pened on March and June already considered. 
1 he Governor in his letter of the oth of 
July informs his Lord/Lip of a mancevre, as 
he calls it, of the fons of liberty; a num- 
ber 



[ 33 J 

ber of them going out of Bofton at the 
clofe of a certain day in parties, and meet- 
ing on each fide of a houfe in Roxbury, 
which Mr. Robinfon (and his Lordfhip 
muft be informed that he alfo was one of 
the Commiffioners) had lately hired, with 
an intention to furprize him and prevent 
his efcape ; but he being at the caftle, 
where the Commijjioners had been driven for 
fafety, they did nothing but plunder his 
fruit trees. This is a very folemn account 
indeed ; but he never laid this " mancevre 
of the fons of liberty," extraordinary as it 
was, before the Council, which he never 
failed to do on like occafions; thinking 
poffibly, that refpectable body might be of 
opinion, that a gentleman of any political 
party may be fuppofed to have had his or- 
chard or fruit gardens robbed by liquorijh 
boys, without making a formal reprefenta- 
tion before his Majefly's nrfr. minifters of 
ftate. As the Governor will flill have it 
that the Commiffioners were tf driven to 
the caftle for fafety," we take occafion to 
obferve here, that it was notorious, that 
they frequently landed on the main, and 
made excurnons into the country -, vifiting 
the Lieutenant-Governor and other gentle- 
men at their feats, where it would have 
been ealy to have feized them if any injury 
had been intended them ; which as his 
Majefty's Council very juftly have obferved, 
t f demonflrated the infincerity of their 

declarations," 



[ 34] 

declarations,'* as it did thofe of the Go- 
vernor, " that they immured themfelves at 
the caftle for fafety." 

Another part of the detail in this letter 
is the refcue of a veflel which had been 
feized by the Cuftom-houfe officers. It 
feems by Governor Bernard's account, it 
had been " thought proper to try an ex- 
periment i for fays he, " when the iloop 
was feized which occafioned the riot, and 
in confequence of which the Commiffioners 
were obliged to leave the town, the great- 
eft part of the refentment was expreffed 
againft the putting her under the care of 
the man of war;" which was very true, 
and he might have alfo faid, the making 
the feizure with an armed force, and there- 
fore, he adds, " when this fchooner was 
feized, it was left at the wharf, under no 
other care but two Cuftom-houfe officers," 
in .hopeful, no doubt, if not certain ex- 
pectation that the refcue would be made, 
from whence it might poffibly be made to 
appear, that the refentment againft the 
proceedings of the Cuftom-houle officers in 
the former inftance, as being violent and 
illegal, was mere pretence. The refcue 
was made, and it was univerfally difpleafing 
to the town. The Governor fays, " this 
very molaffes was the next day returned," 
and tells his Lordffiip, that " the fele&men 
of the town fent for the mafter of the 
fchooner," and " ordered him to return ir, 

under 



under pain of the difpleafure of the town ;" 
which is a grofs mifreprefentation of the 
matter, and artfully defigned to prepare for 
the fubfequent ungenerous remark, that 
" all Government is now in the hands of 
the people." A good magiftrate would have 
rejoiced in this inftance of the people's 
voluntarily affording their aid in the recovery 
of the King's Due, which had been refcued 
from him, without torturing his invention 
to find an ill-natured conftruction for it; 
but Gov. Bernard is difturbed that <s the 
humour of the people," which he fays this 
was done M to pleafe," mould ever coincide 
with their duty to their Sovereign — The 
voluntary aflbciation of the people to pro- 
mote peace and good order, he had before 
faid " carried an implication of danger" to 
the Government j and now, when they 
feem to unite in taking meafures for the 
execution of a law, altho' in its nature dif- 
agreeable to the people, why truly " the 
Government is in the hands of the people, 
and not of thofe deputed by the King, or 
under his Authority." But if the people 
had a view to fave their own reputation in 
this piece of fervice to the Crown, as the 
Governor intimates, furely he will not fay 
it was " ill-judged" or " ill-timed." The 
truth is, they had a particular view at this 
time to prevent Governor Bernard's improv- 
ing this refcue, which they were in no 
fort concerned in, to the prejudice of the 

F town, 



[ 36] 

town, as had been his conftant practice in 
other cafes, and as it now evidently appears 
he intended : and it was certainly a wife 
precaution ; tho' a candid mind will by no 
means exclude any other good intentions. — 
We cannot forbear taking notice here with 
freedom, of a very extraordinary afTertion of 
Governor Bernard, in this letter to his 
Lordfhip, that " every feizure made, or 
attempted to be made on hnd at Bofton for 
thefe three years pad:, before thefe two in- 
itances, had been violently refcued or pre- 
vented," — An afTertion fo noo riouflyfalfe, 
that few men could have made it without 
blufhing ; and we may fuppofe even Go- 
vernor Bernard himfelf would not have 
made it, had he apprehended it would ever 
have become public* — The officers of the 
cufroms themfelves will not venture to 
affirm it, If the afTertion is true, his Ma- 
jefty's Council muff have been egregioufly 
miftaken when they declare, that " no in- 
stance can be alledged of any vefTel feized 

* // is remarkable that Governor Bernard, ?iot long before thefe 
letters were made public, expreffed to a certain gentleman, his 
earneft wijh, that the people of this Province could have a fight 
cf all his letters to the Minijiry, being affured that they would 
thereby be full)/ convinced that he was a. friend to the Province-- 
Indeed be made a declaration to the fame purpofe, in one of his 
public fpeeches to the Houfe of Reprefentatives. Upon the Arri- 
val of the letters however, he difcovered, as fome fay, a certain 
Palenejs, and complainea of as an hardjhip that his letters, 
wrote in confidence, Jhould be expofed to the vievj of the 
Public— A ftriking proof of the Bafenefs, as well as the 
Perfdy of his heart ! 

or 



[37 1 

or any feizure whatever in the town of" 
Bofton being refcued out of the hands of 
the officers, except what took place here on 
the 8th of July inftant, when a quantity of 
molaiTes (this very molaiTes) having been 
leized, was taken away from the officers 
who had charge of it -, which unwar- 
rantable proceeding being univerfally con- 
demned, the molaiTes was very foon re- 
turned." As this bafe flory was invented 
and told by Gov. Bernard, with the fole 
intention of calling an odium upon the 
town, we have reafon to expect his re- 
tractation of it; or he mtift bear the re- 
proaches of an highly injured community, 
and the juft cenfures of all impartial men. 
.After thefe falfe and injurious afiertions, he 
thinks it a proper time to acquaint his 
Lordmip, that the one regiment which he 
had the flattering expectation of, from a 
letter he had received from General Gage, 
" tho' it might fecure the caftle, would not 
be fufficient to awe the town-" which was 
in effect afking for more. Thus we fee 
the means which Governor Bernard and his 
confederates have been inceflantly ufing to 
accompli fh their defigns ; and ftrange as it 
may in fome better times hereafter appear, 
thefe means and thefe very instruments at 
length prevailed to introduce a military 
power into this town — A power which is 
daily trampling on our laws, contemning 
■Our religion, and invading the rights both 
F z of 



[3H 

of perfons and property — A power by which 
a truly loyal but long abufed and highly 
provoked community, is, not indeed awed, 
but diflrefled — And were it not for the cer- 
tain advice that our humble and dutiful fup- 
plications have at length reached the royal 
hand, we mould be reduced even to a ftate 
of defperation ! 

Governor Bernard in his letter to Lord 
Hilllborough of the 16th of September, be- 
gins with acquainting his Lordfhip with 
the prudent methods he took, to communi- 
cate the expectation of the troops gradually, 
for fear of certain ill effects that might a- 
rife from their fudden arrival. And no 
wonder that the man who had long been 
reprefenting a whole country as rebels j and 
had been one of the principal inftruments in 
bringing fuch a curfe upon it, fhould at that 
juncture be under fome apprehenfions of 
danger. In his laft letter he talks 'of his 
perfonal courage, and tells Lord Hillfborough, 
that " he did not feel his own firmnefs of 
mind to fail :" he alfo mentions ** the fpi- 
rited conduct of the Lieutenant-Governor; 
and with pleafure affures his Lordfhip, that 
" he could depend upon his refolution and 
fteadinefs as much as he could upon bis own-" 
from whence he concludes, that " there 
would be no want of a due enforcement of 
the laws to the correction of the prefent 
abufes :" — But now he feems to be confeious 
of fear ! — Happy was it for him, that he 

was 



r 39 3 

was in the hands of a people ; who attended 
to the dictates of found policy, religion and 
loyalty — He firft opens this matter to one of 
the Council, and tells him, that " he had 
private advice that troops were ordered hi- 
ther, but that he had no publick orders a- 
boutit himfelf;" and he obferves, that " it 
quickly was very thoroughly circulated all 
over the town," and the JacJion immediately 
took the alarm." By this he would inii- 
nuate that the better fort of the people, 
and even the generality of the town, were 
well enough pleafed with it. If the faction 
only took the alarm, the generality of the 
town muft have been included in the faction: 
for in truth, he had the mortification of 
feeing the whole body of the people, faving 
his own very few adherents, who were 
properly an implacable faction, thoroughly 
awakened and alarmed at the fudden ex- 
pectation of a military force, which had 
indeed been often threatned by this faction, 
but few realized it before — And now the 
pimps were all immediately fent out, who 
no doubt were rewarded in proportion to 
their fuccefs in the buiinefs; and the Go- 
vernor foon had intelligence brought to him 
of the converfation of " private companies :" 
and that in one " it was the general opinion 
to raife the country and opppie the troops j" 
in another " it was refolved to furprize and 
take the caftie." How ridiculoufly im- 
pertinent mutt he appear in the eyes of 

men 



[ 4° ] 

men of fenfe, after all to acquaint his Lord- 
flup, that " he does not relate thefe ac- 
counts as certain fadts." To what purpofe 
then did he relate them at all! It* feems 
that he was full as defigning, in com- 
municating to Lord Hilliborough, as he 
was in communicating to the people, tho* 
his defigns were different : for the people 
were not to be told the whole that the Go- 
vernor knew to be true ; but his Lordmip 
was to be induced to believe more:— In 
either cafe if the purpofe could be ferved, 
fincenty was out of the queftion. Uncer- 
tain however as thefe facls were, his Lord- 
ihip is informed, that they were yet " be- 
lieved r Strange, as they were faid to be 
facts of yefterday, that no one, after all the 
pains that had been taken, could make them 
certain; and if they were not to be made 
certain, Granger itill that any in their 
ienfes mould believe them.— Some men are 
very apt to believe that which they wijh 
were true : this no doubt is the prefent 
cafe.— And befides, we are to remember, 
that more than two regiments were wanted 
to awe the town; and if the Governor could 
boldly fay, that thefe reports, vague as they 
were, had obtained any credit here, no mat- 
ter by whom believed, they would have fome 
weight. But he muft be prefumed to think 
very mjudmoufly of the head or the heart of 
a Mmifter of State, to fuppofe that fuch an 
undigefted and ridiculous account of things 

would 



[ 41 J 

would influence his meafures. Nothing, 
we fhould think, but the great candor which 
has ever appeared in Lord Hilliborough to- 
wards Governor Bernard, could have pre- 
vented his fevered cenfure. — But admitting 
they were true, which was by no means the 
cafe, certainly the town is not accountable 
for what one of his Excellencies fpies might 
have overheard in a " private company."— . 
Let us then coniider the account the Go- 
vernor gives of the public conduct of the 
town, at a meeting legally called on Mon- 
day, September 12. And firfl he fays, " at 
the hall the faction appeared furrounded with 
all its forces ;" and an appearance very decent 
at leaf!:, it feems, they were capable of 
making according to the Governor's account. 
For he tells his Lordfhip, " a fet of fpeeches 
by the chiefs of the faction, and no one elfe, 
followed in fuch order and method, that e- 
very thing both as to matter and order, 
feemed to have been preconcerted j" while 
alas ! the " very few principal Gentlemen 
there," the better fort in the Governor's 
estimation, appeared " as curious, perhaps 
anxious fpeclators !" Where is now the little 
remains of an expiring faSiion, which he 
had fo often told the world of? the tone 
is wonderfully altered ; the body of the 
people are now truly reprefented as united 
firm and regular in their oppoiition to his 
meafures, while his own few partizans, who 
yet mud be ftiled " the principal gentlemen," 

though 



U* ] 

though expecting every moment to be 
" furrounded with all their forces," appeared 
inquifitive and anxious for the event ! But 
nothing was refolved upon, fays the Go- 
vernor, but to put two queftions to me, and 
appoint a general committee to confider 
and report." The main queftion to the 
Governor was. Whether he had certain 
expectation of the troops ? To which he an- 
fwered with an artful ambiguity, that he had 
private advice, but no publick orders about 
it. His private advice might have been 
certain ; or he might have had authe?itick 
publick advice without public orders about 
it, for General Gage was commander in 
chief of the King's forces. Being however 
fomewhat preffed by the committee who 
waited on him, he difcovered a duplicity 
for which he has a peculiar talent, and faid, 
that he would not have the town certainly 
expect the troops j \ although he then ex- 
pected them himfelf, and fully believed they 
were on their pailage from Halifax ; and in 
this letter to Lord Hillfborough he tells 
him, that it was at that very time his inten- 
tion to communicate thefe expectations of 

them gradually His account of divers 

ipeeches made in the town meeting is as 
uncertain, and with regard to fome of them, 
as untrue, as the intelligence he had re- 
ceived, of the private converfation : perhaps it 
was carried to him by the fame hands, as 
fome of his principal gentlemen were there. 

The 



C 43 3 

The refolves and determinations of this 
meeting, as the Governor fays, were pub- 
limed to the world; and they remain on. 
the records of the town that pofterity may 
judge of them. The town has feen no rea- 
son lines to revoke thefe refolves, notwith- 
ftanding they have been fentenced as " very 
dangerous refolves, procured by mad peo- 
ple," by fo exquifite a judge, in matters 
which regard civil Government, as well as 
fo polite a gentleman as General Gage. 
The Governor himfelf has been fince ref- 
pectfully requefted by the felectmen, in be- 
half of the town, to mew in what refpect 
the refolves and proceedings of this very 
meeting had militated with law; but he de- 
clined it : and we believe he declined it, 
becaufe he was not able to do it. Spirited 
indeed they were, but not too fpirited for 
the times. — When the conftitution is threat* 
ened, the principles of the conftitution mud;, 
if ever, be afferted and fupported — The 
Governor indeed takes notice of our claim 
to a certain claufe in the bill of rights as 
"•a large ftride :" but as we are free Britifh 
fubjects, we claim all that fecurity againft 
arbitrary power, to which we are entitled 
by the law of God and nature, as well as 
the Britifh conftitution. And if a ftanding 
army may not be pofted upon the fubjects 
in one part of the empire, in a time of 
peace, without their confent, there can be 
no reafon why it fliould in any other; for 
G *U 



[ 44 1 
all Brltiih fubjects are or ought to be alike 
free.— 

The Governor in a former letter to Lord 
Hillfborough mentioned, the felectmens or- 
dering the arms belonging to the town to 
be brought out and cleaned -, and to make 
fomething of the flory, he told him that 
*' they were expofed fome hours at the town 
houfe 5" in this letter he fays lt thefe arms 
were depofited in chefts, and laid upon the 
floor of the town hall to remind the people of 
the tife of them" Could any one befides 
Governor Bernard, defcend to fo pitiful an 
artifice as to infinuate that thefe arms were 
cleaned, expofed to the people, and finally 
laid on the floor of the hall at this juncture, 
to induce his Lordfhip to believe, that thefe 
were the forces with which the faction ap- 
peared ** furrounded," and that the felect- 
men who are the principal City Magiflrates, 
and the leading part of the town itfelf, 
were actually in the plan which he had juft 
before mentioned, as concerted in one of 
the private meetings, " to raife the country 
and oppofe the troops :" and that thefe arms 
depofited in chefts were laid on the floor 
of the hall, to " remind the people of the 
ufe of them," and infpirit them for the pur- 
pofe of oppoflng the troops. Whereas the 
Ample truth of the matter is, thefe arms 
had for many years been depofited in chefts 
and laid on the floor of the town hail ; but 
the hall itfelf being bu r nt a few years ago, 

the 



[45 3 

the arms were faved from the ruins and car- 
ried to the town houfe : after the hall was 
re-built, the town ordered their removal 
there ; and tho' it happened to be done at a 
juncture when the Governor and his con- 
federates talked much of the town's rr- 
volting, there was no other thought in the 
minds of any, except the Governor and a 
few more, and it is a queition whether even 
he, or they, really thought otherwife, but 
to lodge them in their proper and iijual 
place. 

We cannot help taking notice how very 
exact the Governor fometimes is even in the 
choice of words, in his " detail of facts" to 
a Minilter of ftate : an inftance of which 
we have now before us, wherein he men- 
tions to his Lordfhip his inclofing " a blank 
copy of the precept (as he is pleafed to call 
it) which the felectmen have ufed," it is a 
wonder it was not i/Jued, for that would 
have made it appear more formal, " in call- 
ing together the convention ;" from whence 
he takes occafion to fay, it was " a daring 
afTumption of the royal authority." Here 
then is the treafon and mifprifion of treafon, 
or a part of it leaft, about which there has 
been fuch an eclat of late ; for which the 
Governor tells his Lordfhip in his detail of 
the convention, every well-wifher of the 
Province, of whom he is doubtlefs one, 
" molt devoutly defires the charter may be 
forfeited"— And fome of the leaders were 

G 2 to 



[.4« ] 

to be fent to England to be tried there.— 
Nay, his Lord(hip, or forne one of his 
Majefty's Servants is informed that they ex- 
pected it themfelves; for Commodore Hood 
m one of his fhort and pithy Epiftles, fays, 
" they were alarmed, and expected nothing 
lefsthan a voyage to England again ft their 
inclinations."— But his Lordibip's deep pe- 
netration might have difcovered that this 
" precept to call a convention", v. as nothing 
more than a friendly circular letter to the 
felec~tmen of the feveral towns in the 
Province, dcfiring them to propofe to their 
refpective towns the fending Committees, 
to join with thofe of the town of Bofton' 
in confulting meafures to promote peace 
and good order : which was fo far from an 
afTumption of the royal authority, that it 
afiumed not the leah: fhadow of any am 
thority whatever— This very innocent mea- 
fure of the town in " calling together a 
convention", as the Governor expreffes it, 
which he fo highly cenfures, and upon the' 
promoters of which he loudly calls for the 
cationa! vengeance, was moil certainly at- 
tended with all the happy effects for which 
it was propofed : for the general fentiments 
of the Province were thereby collected, 
which could not otherwife have been done \ 
the Governor having arbitrarily diffolvcd 
the General Affembly, and positively re- 
iuied to call another, againft the dutiful 
petition of the convention itfclf, as well as 



of 



[47l 

of the town, even before they propofed of 
thought of it- — The feveral towns having 
the opportunity of conferring together by 
their Committees, had the fame effects 
which followed a certain circular letter 
which formerly fo perplexed his Excellency; 
for the people became the more united in 
the meafures proper to be taken for the 
prefervation of their common rights at fo 
critical and alarming a juncture. And tho' 
the Governor fays " at the fountain head it 
was intended to provoke refentment," yet 
to this very meafure has been imputed, in 
fome fmall degree at leaft, whether ju (kly 
or not, it becomes not this town to fay, 
that prudence as well as firmnefs and per- 
feverance in the caufe of liberty, of which 
it is hoped this country will forever avail it- 
{df. Even Governor Bernard cannot but 
own, that the convention difcovered " mo- 
deration" and " a temperate conduct," 
which is far from being inconfiftent with 
true fortitude : but he is not willing that 
the town of Ballon mould " ajfume the 
merit of it." They are very far from a 
difpofition thus to afiume : they are content 
to have that fhare of merit which their be- 
loved countrymen are willing they mould 
have. And tho' he would infinuate to his 
Lordmip with his ufual cunning, that there 
was at the convention an eflential difference 
of fentiments between the town and the 
country; and that " many of ike deputies 

cams 



t 48] 

came down with a difpofition and inftrucl:- 
ions to prevent the Boftoners (as he elegantly 
exprefTes himfelf) involving the province in 
the confequences of their own mad devices;" 
and that many of them " were from the 
beginning fenfible of the impropriety and 
danger of this proceeding ;") his Lordfhip, 
as " they printed what they did," has no 
doubt been fince convinced, that they 
were united in their fentiments of the com- 
mon caufe. 

But this very peaceable propofal, the 
Governor thinks, exceeded the " Great Re- 
bellion when it was at the higheft, and the 
confulion arifing therefrom moft urgent for 
fome extraordinary meafures." Here is the 
burden of the fong — extraordinary meafures / 
And furely his Lordfhip mufl propofe fome 
very extraordinary meafures to chaftife a 
greater than the Great Rebellion, even when 
it was at the highefl. — Not content with 
pouring forth this torrent of zeal, the Go- 
vernor flill preffes upon his Lordfhip ; and 
allures him, that " unlefs it is prevented by 
fome power from without, not only the 
Crown officers will be excluded/* but " every 
ingredient of royalty" in the Government of 
the province will be totally deftroyed— — 
What rhetorick ! to arreft his Lordfhip's at- 
tention, and hurry him on to conclude with 
the Governor, that '* the force already or- 
dered by General Gage, viz. two regiments, 
will not be furlicient." ■ ■ In order frill to 

heighten 



t49 J 

heighten the ideas of an intended rebellion, 
the Governor adds, ** it is now a great quef- 
tion whether the King's troops will be fuf- 
fered to enter the town or not." And 
iS the defign againft. the caftle is now fo well 
known, that it is probable that the very 
names of the people who were enrolled for 
that fervice to the number of five hundred, 
or of the chiefs of them will be discovered." 
It is pretty remarkable, the Governor in the 
former part of this letter informed his Lord- 
mip, that he did not relate this very ac- 
count as a certain fact; his fpies mull: then 
make very quick rotations, and the intelli- 
gence flow in very fait, to be fo well allured 
of it before he concluded j or the Governor 
muft be fo unfortunate, perhaps not having 
time in the multiplicity of his affairs, to 
keep a regular Diary > as to forget what he 
had wrote, and as we every now and then 
find it happens, in the " overflowings" of 
his zeal, to be inconiiftent with himfelf. 

It would be an endlefs talk to take par- 
ticular notice of every falfe and injurious re- 
prefentation contained in thefe voluminous 
letters."* No one can read them without 

being 

* In Iced It might be faid, the whole World would not contain 
all the remarks that might be juftly made upon them. 
One inftance however Teems to have been overlooked by the 
Town ; and as it is an iniltance of importance, it is 
hoped, its being noticed in the margin, will not be thought 
amiis. The Governor, after having prevailed upon the 
Council, at a very thin Board, and by the majority of one 
out of only eleven gentlemen prefent, to advife to the 
clearing the Manufactory-houie in Bolton, for the recep- 
tion 



[ 5° ] 

being aftonifhed, at feeing a peribn in fo 
important a department as Governor Ber- 
nard 

tion of a part of the two Irifn regiments then expe&ed ; in 
his letter to Lord Hillfborough of Nov. ift, he gives him 
an account of ihe Heps he had ordered for the removal 
of the fan- Hie; out of the houfe. And it feems, that the 
Governor, by a power which he had ajfumed, appointed 
the Sheriff and two of his deputies, Bailiffs for the Go- 
vernor and Council, for thepurpoie : thefe families, how- 
ever, refufed to fubmit tofuch authority, even though the 
Chief Juflice himfelf condefcended to go with the Sheriff, 
and ad-vifed them to give up the houfe. The Sheriff, up- 
on the third attempt fays the Governor, " finding the 
window open, entered ; upon which the people gathered 
about him and fhut him up ; he then made ajignal, to an 
officer who was without, who brought a party of foldiers, 
who took poffeffion of the yard of the building, and re- 
lieved the Sheriff from his confinement" — This is the Go- 
vernor's account of the matter ; but others give a very 
different account of it, and fay that the Sheriff attempted 
zforceable entry, and was refilled by the people within the 
houfe; and by them only : certain it is, that one of them 
commenced an aftion of trefpafs againfl the Sheriff; but 
what became of the action the records of the court of Com- 
mon Pleas will belt fhow : it is alfo certain that an offi- 
cer, a Military officer, who was without and at hand ; and 
upon a fignal from the fheriff, brought a party of foloiers, 
the whole regiment being then encamped in fight on the 
Common; and ihe foldiers (not the inhabitants as the Go- 
vernor afferts) " kept the houfe blockaded all that day 
and belt part of the next." It is further certain, and it 
may be attefted by the oaths of divers perfons of credit, 
that offers were made to the Sheriff, of fufficient aid in the 
legal execution of his office, if he would difmifs the troops ; 
illegal fteps being at the fame time excepted againft. 
Great numbers of people during thefiege, as it may be pro- 
perly called, were collected in the ftreet, which is as fpacious 
as in any part of the Town, but the Governor owns they 
did nomifchief: he indeed reprefentsitinhis ufual manner, 
as a G R E a T M o B afjhnbled nvithfome of the chiefs ofthefaclion, 
intimating thereby, as in his former letters, "an intended in- 
furreftion :" the General on the other hand fays, the mat- 
ter " occafioned a little difturbance of no confequence ;" but 
takes care to add, that " it ferved to fhow a molt obfti- 

nate 



[ 5* ] 
Hard fuflained, defcending in his letters to a 
Minifter of ftate, to fuch trifling circum- 
ftances, and fuch flanderous chit-chat : boafl> 

nate fpirit of oppofition to every meafure of Government." 
The Governor further fays, the inhabitants " were very 
abufive to the foldiers."— The contrary is moft certainly 
and notorioujly true. He fays alfo, that « the foldiers 
were withdrawn on the evening of the fecond day : io 
far is this from truth, that the guard of foldiers, to whoie 
cuftody the Sheriff committed the cellar of the houfe, 
which he had got the poffeffion of, kept their poll a much 
longer time ; and application was made, to divers of his 
Majefty'sjufticesof the peace, for their removal, by the 
force of law, near three weeks after. And again the Go- 
vernor fays, that " this building was kept filled with the 
outcaft of the Workhoufe, to prevent its being ufed for 
the accommodation of the King's troops ;" which is con- 
tradicted by the oaths of all the overfeers of the poor, who 
mull have known it if it had been true, for the care and 
government of the Workhoufe is by law veiled in them. 
The truth is, the people gathered upon this extraordinary 
occafion, but were very peaceable ; fome few it may be to 
carry intelligence to the Governor, but by far the greater 
part, from a juft abhorrence of this meafure of Government, 
to borrow the general expreffion, and an anxiety for the 
event of this Jir/? open and avowed effort of Military Ty- 
b anny 1 The Governor declares, that the Council, who 
were alarmed at the violence of this proceeding, mud 
have known that the entry " could not have been made 
■without force ;" and he fufriciently explains what fort^ of 
force he meant, in the reafon he gives, why the foldiers 
were withdrawn for that time, which was, becaufe " the 
building was not immediately wanted," the Irilh regi- 
ments, for whom it was deiigned, as was pretended, not 

being yet arrived. -Perhaps the Governor gives this cir- 

cumftantial account to his Lordfttip to confirm what he had 
before faid, that " two regiments were not fufficient to 

awe the Town ! This attack upon the fecurity of 

people's dwelling-houfes, was as violent as has ever been 
known even under the moft defpotick Governments, tho' 
happily it proved unfuccefsful. This is one of the bright 
glories of Bernard's adminiftration : he, who with fo 
much readinefs and exaft propriety afforded the aid of his 
advice, and prejudg'd the matter, claims, however, 
his lhare in the annals of fame. — — 

H ing, 



[ 52 1 

Ing, as be does in one of his letters, of his 
over-reaching thofe with whom he was trans- 
acting pubiick bulinefs ; and in order to 
prejudice the moil refpectable bodies, meanly 
filching from individuals belonging to thofe 
bodies, what had been dropped in the courfe 
of bulinefs or debate : journalizing every 
idle report brought to him, and in fhort 
acting the part of a pimp rather than a Go- 
vernor.-— As thefe letters, being now made 
public, will be a monument of difgrace to 
him, it cannot be fuppofed, that any ho- 
nor can be derived from them, to thofe great 
men to whom they were addreffed. 

Notwithstanding the town have been o- 
bliged in juflice to themfelves, to fay thus 
much in their own vindication, we mould 
yet be glad, that the ancient and happy u- 
nion between Great-Britain and this country, 
which Governor Bernard has fo induftriouily 
laboured to interrupt, might be reftored. 
Some have indeed flattered themfelves with 
the profpecl of it .; as intelligence is faid to 
have been received from adminiftration, that 
a/I the revenue acts would be repealed: but as 
it fince appears by Lord Hilliborough's own 
account, that nothing more is intended, 
than the taking off the duties on paper, 
glafs, and Painter's colours, upon commer- 
cial principles only ; if that is all, it will 
not give fatisfaction : it will not even re- 
lieve the trade from the burdens it labours 
under ; much lefs will it remove the grounds 

of 



[ 53 1 
of difcontent, which runs through the con- 
tinent, upon much higher principles. Then- 
rights are invaded by thefe a&s ; therefore 
untill they are all repealed, the caufe of 
their juft complaints cannot be removed; 
In fhort, the grievances which lie heavily 
upon us, we fhall never think redreffed, 
till every aB> paffed by the Britifli Parlia- 
ment for the exprefs purpofe of raifmg a 
revenue upon us without our content, is re- 
pealed ; till the American board of Com- 
mimoners of the Cuftoms is diiTolved ; the 
troops recalled, and things are reftored 
to the ftate they were in before the late ex- 
traordinary meafures of adminiftration took 

place. 

Befides thefe letters of Governor Bernard, 
we find others written by General Gage, 
and Commodore Hood. And we cannot 
but obferve, that although both thefe gen- 
tlemen were perfect (bangers in the town, 
they have yet taken fuch extraordinary free- 
doms, and the general in particular has 
wrote in fuch a pofitive ftrain, as mull: un- 
avoidably give high difguft to every reader 
of candor and impartiality. If thefe gen- 
tlemen received the character of the town, 
or of any of its individuals, from Governor 
Bernard, as we are ready to think they did, 
they mud have been long before convinced, 
if they knew any thing at all of the ftate of 
the town, that the Governor was too deep- 
ly interefted in mifreprefenting, to be credited 

H z m 



[54] 
in a point of that importance; and there- 
fore common juftice would have dictated a 
fufpenfion of their publick teflimony to the 
prejudice of a community, till they could 
have had the opportunity of doing it upon 
impartial enquiry, or their own obfervation-^ 
The General feems to have early imbibed 
fome fort of prejudice againft a town, that 
had been before prejudiced in his favour; 
for the Governor in one of his letters to 
Lord Hillfborough acquaints him, that the 
General " had lent Capt. Montrefor from 
New-York, to affifl the forces as Engineer y 
and enable them to recover and main- 
tain the caflle, and fuch other ports as they 
could fecure," upon intelligence that the 
people in and about Bofton had revolted, 
Now even the Gov. himfelf declares this to. 
be a miftake, and fays that things were not 
quite " Co bad as that came to.' 5 "— As there 
are two conftant and regular pods between 
this town and New- York, each of which 
carries ^ intelligence from the one to the 
other in the courfe of a week,- and more 
efpecially as he might reafonably expect 
authentick accounts of a matter of fuch 
importance, by exprefs in a fhorter time ; it 
is ftrange, if the General's mind was un- 
biased, that he mould fo ftrongly rely upon 
private advice, as to form his meafures from 
them, which the Governor afferts.— It was 
a meafure of importance, as it iffued, to 
the town: for Col. Dalrymple who had 

the 



[ 55 J 

the command of the regiments, from the 
authority of thefe new orders, as the Governor 
declares, tho't proper to alter the plan, which 
was to land only one, and landed both the 
regiments in Bolton without lofs of time. 
Perhaps it was under the impreflion of thefe 
private advices, and " the narrative of the 
proceedings of the town-meeting," which 
the Governor alfo mentions as influential on 
the General's meafures, and which poffibly 
was a narrative of the Governor's own writ- 
hig, that fo wrought upon the General's 
imagination, as to induce him to give his 
opinion to his Lordfhip, that the " inten- 
tions of the town were fufpicious, and that 
he was happy the troops from Halifax ar- 
rived at the time they did !" Thefe and 
many fuch like unprovoked expreffions are to 
be found in the letters of both thefe gentle- 
men, and efpecially the General's j but as 
they partake of a full portion of the fpirit 
of Governor Bernard's, and as the fenfe of 
this Province fully appears in the late fpirit- 
ed refolves of the houfe of reprefentatives, 
we mall avoid troubling the publick with 
particular remarks upon them, and to bor- 
row an exprefiion of great authority, " treat 
them with the contempt they deferve." 



TIm 



[65] 

The Town of BO S TO N, at their Meeting 
bejorementioned, came into the following Re- 
folutioriSy viz. 

RESOLVED, that the letters and me- 
morials of Governor Bernard and the Com- 
miffioners of the cuftoms in America, tranf- 
mitted by them refpectively to his Majefty's 
Minifters, and laid before the Parliament 
of Great-Britain, authentick copies of 
which are now before this town -, had a 
tendency to deceive the Miniftry, and lead 
them unavoidably to mifinform his Ma- 
jefty, with regard to the affections and 
Loyalty of his American Subjects in ge- 
neral : and that the faid Governor Bernard 
and the Commiffioners have particularly, in 
their letters and memorials before-mention- 
ed, difcovered an implacable enmity to this 
town, and the mod: virulent endeavours to 
traduce it even to his Majefty himfelf ; by 
means whereof the inhabitants very fenfibly 
feel the difpleafure of their Gracious Sove- 



reign. 



RESOLVED, that this town have reafon 
to rejoice in the meafure taken by the ho- 
norable houfe of Representatives, in the lad 
femon of the General Affembly ; by fo 
feafonably preferring their dutiful and loyal 
petition to his Majefty, for the removal of 
Governor Bernardj^r mr from the Govern- 
ment 



t 57) 

ment of this Province : and the town take 
this opportunity to exprefs their moft ardent 
wifh, thafthe prayer of laid petition to his 
Majefty may be gracioufly heard and 
granted. 

RESOLVED, that General Gage and 
Commodore Hood in their feveral letters to 
his Majefty's Minifters and fervants, authen- 
tick copies of which are now before this 
town, have difcovered an unreaibnable preju- 
dice againft the town. And the General 
in particular, in declaring in his letter to the 
right Hon. the Earl of Hillfborough, one of 
his Majefty's Secretaries of State, that i{ in 
truth there was very little Government in 
Bo/ion; and in making ufe of other ex- 
preffions alike fescere has done great injuftice 
to the town, and an irreparable injury. 
And it is moreover the opinion of the town, 
that the readinefs he has difcovered to re- 
ceive unfavorable impreffions of it, and the 
publick teftimony he was prevailed upon to 
bear againft it, before he could have time 
to make an impartial enquiry, betrayed a 
want of candor unbecoming his ftation and 
character. 

RESOLVED, that many of the letters 
and memorials aforefaid are falfe, fcanda- 
lous, and infamous libels upon the inhabit- 
ants of this Town, Province and Continent, 
of the moft virulent and malicious, as well 
as dangerous and pernicious tendency : and 

that 



[58] 

that the feleclmen be and hereby are direct- 
ed to apply and complain to proper authority, 
that the wicked authors of thofe incendiary 
libels, may be proceeded with according to 
law, and brought to condign punifhment. 



FINIS. 



3477-251 
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